Case Background
Katreen Lombardo worked as the Vice President of Marketing for Camuto Group LLC from September 9, 2014, through July 30, 2020. Camuto Group LLC operates as a global footwear, fashion, and lifestyle company that handles design, manufacturing, and retail partnerships. Before she officially started her role, Lombardo signed a written employment contract. She performed her executive duties across the corporate offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Manhattan, New York, before switching exclusively to the Manhattan location in January 2017. Her daily responsibilities centered on overseeing all consumer-facing visual assets and directing the internal advertising strategies for more than fifteen fashion brands.
The legal dispute arose from corporate bonus payouts and subsequent workplace friction that escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lombardo alleged that her employment contract guaranteed a fixed annual financial bonus, which the company failed to pay in full over several consecutive years. She stated that when she vocalized her concerns to upper management regarding the missing compensation, the company initiated a pattern of professional isolation and eventual termination. Camuto Group LLC denied all allegations of contract breaches, wage withholding, or hostile retaliation. The company maintained that the bonus structure was entirely discretionary after the first year and asserted that the economic pressures of the pandemic forced a necessary corporate restructuring that eliminated her specific position.
Cause
The underlying cause of action stemmed from a critical disagreement over the interpretation of the bonus clause within Lombardo’s original employment agreement. Lombardo argued that the written terms established a non-discretionary, guaranteed annual bonus of $30,000.00. The only prerequisite for the payout required her to remain an employee in good standing through the end of each calendar year up to the scheduled payment date in March.
The company paid the full $30,000.00 amounts in March 2015 and March 2016. However, the relationship fractured in March 2017 when the company paid Lombardo only $22,000.00 for her 2016 performance, leaving an $8,000.00 shortfall. Lombardo alleged that corporate management threatened her with immediate discharge when she inquired about the missing money. Following that encounter, the company withheld the entirety of her annual bonuses for the performance years of 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Lombardo filed a formal protest via email to top management in May 2019. She claimed that the company immediately retaliated by stripping away her core vice-presidential duties, blocking a 15% salary promotion to Senior Vice President, and excluding her from crucial marketing strategy assemblies and a major out-of-state leadership summit. The situation culminated in March 2020 when the company furloughed her alongside a large portion of the workforce due to the pandemic. Although Camuto Group LLC recalled its other senior marketing executives back to active duty by July 2020, it left Lombardo on indefinite furlough. After her personal legal counsel issued a formal demand letter for the missing bonuses on July 20, 2020, the company terminated her employment on August 1, 2020.
Injury
Lombardo suffered distinct financial and professional injuries as a direct consequence of the company's actions. She sustained substantial economic losses due to the multi-year withholding of her contractual bonus wages and the denial of an executive promotion that carried a significant base salary increase. Her professional career trajectory and reputation within the fashion merchandising industry sustained damage due to her sudden exclusion from elite corporate conferences and strategic decision-making forums. Furthermore, the abrupt retaliatory termination of her long-term executive employment left her abruptly displaced from the market, causing personal emotional distress and severe mental anguish.
Damages Sought
Lombardo sought comprehensive financial remedies through her civil complaint. She demanded the full repayment of all underpaid and completely withheld annual bonuses spanning from 2016 through 2019. She requested a full award of back pay and front pay to remedy the sudden loss of her base salary and corporate benefits. To address the statutory violations, Lombardo sought liquidated damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, and the coverage of all her reasonable attorney fees and Court costs. Finally, she demanded separate compensatory damages for the harm done to her professional reputation, emotional distress damages for mental anguish, and a substantial award of punitive damages to penalize the company for its reckless indifference to her workplace rights.
Key Arguments and Proceedings
Legal Representation
Plaintiff(s): Katreen Lombardo.
Counsel for Plaintiff(s): Michael R. Minkoff | Alexander T. Coleman | Michael J. Borrelli | Andrew C Weiss | Edgar Mikel Rivera | Sharan Rachel Abraham
Defendant(s): Camuto Group LLC (noted in records as Camuto LLC, incorrectly captioned as Camuto Group LLC).
Counsel for Defendant(s): Wayne A. Graver | Michael F. McKeon
Key Arguments or Remarks by Counsel
Claims
Lombardo's legal counsel presented a multi-layered trial strategy highlighting clear contract breaches and statutory labor violations. Under the breach of contract claim, counsel argued that the company violated explicit, clear-cut promises by unilaterally withholding earned executive compensation while Lombardo remained an employee in excellent standing. Alternatively, counsel framed the unpaid bonuses as an immediate violation of New York Labor Law Section 193, arguing that the fashion firm engaged in unauthorized, illegal wage deductions by pocketing her non-discretionary earnings without consent.
For the primary retaliation claim under New York Labor Law Section 215, Lombardo's team asserted that the company operated an intentional campaign to freeze her out of her livelihood. Counsel emphasized the close timing between her May 2019 email complaint and the immediate, hostile removal of her executive job responsibilities. They argued that the company fabricated subjective performance issues to block her promotion while advancing an identical lateral colleague who had never filed a wage complaint. Finally, they stressed that the company used the pandemic as a convenient cover story, pointing out that management actively chose to convert her temporary furlough into a permanent firing within days of receiving her attorney's formal warning letter.
Defense
The defense team for Camuto Group LLC countered by arguing that Lombardo completely misinterpreted her own employment paperwork. Counsel argued that the contract restricted the guaranteed, non-discretionary $30,000.00 bonus strictly to her initial 2014 calendar year. They asserted that for all subsequent years, the agreement transformed the bonus into an entirely discretionary perk dependent on corporate performance and executive evaluation. Because discretionary bonuses do not qualify as protected "wages" under New York Labor Law Section 193, the defense argued that no illegal deductions ever occurred.
Regarding the retaliation allegations, the defense argued that Lombardo's career stalled due to independent, documented performance deficiencies rather than any personal grudges or corporate animus. Counsel strongly denied that any executive threatened her or isolated her from corporate events due to her compensation inquiries. The defense asserted that the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic forced an immediate, drastic company-wide reorganization. Management decided to transition the brand away from traditional, resource-heavy physical marketing and toward modern digital platforms. Because this strategic pivot relied far less on physical photoshoots and in-person visual asset management, the company eliminated Lombardo's specific role purely as a forward-looking financial measure.
Jury Verdict
In this verdict, the jury found in favor of Plaintiff Katreen Lombardo on both her breach of contract claim and her retaliation claim against Camuto Group LLC. On the contract claim, the jury decided that the “Guaranteed Bonus” provision required the company to pay her a $30,000 bonus each year of her employment, that she performed the required services and stayed employed through the relevant payout periods, and that she was not paid for the bonus in March 2016, March 2017, March 2018, March 2019, and March 2020, resulting in total breach-of-contract damages of $150,000.00. On the retaliation claim, the jury found that the Defendant took adverse action by terminating her and/or not bringing her back from furlough, and that this decision was motivated by her protected good-faith complaint, awarding $590,000.00 in back pay and $0 in front pay. The jury awarded no emotional distress damages and rejected punitive damages, finding no malice or reckless indifference, so punitive damages were set at $0. Following the formal entry of the verdict on May 18, 2026, Judge Broderick ordered both legal teams to submit a unified briefing schedule for any post-trial motions by May 22, 2026.
Court documents are available upon request at [email protected]
